<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Monitor/Conduit Problem by Thalius</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26392351">The Monitor/Conduit Problem</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thalius/pseuds/Thalius'>Thalius</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Academia, Experimental Style, Fluff, Force philosophy, Gen, Studying, au where qui-gon is alive just because, debates, obi-wan and qui-gon argue in a living room, speculation about how the force works</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:00:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,643</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26392351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thalius/pseuds/Thalius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ahsoka just wants some help with her homework.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Qui-Gon Jinn &amp; Obi-Wan Kenobi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>274</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Monitor/Conduit Problem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is probably gonna be incoherent and unappealing to everybody except for me, but I really, really want content of Jedi being pedantic and annoying scholars who argue about Force philosophy and other really stupid shit all day, so this fic is purely wish-fulfilment on that front. If you follow me on tumblr you’ve probably already seen me post about some of this, so apologies if this is a retread. Also Qui-Gon is here for no reason at all except that I want him to be.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Anakin had always assured her that technical grades didn’t really mean anything once she was Knighted, as long as she didn’t want to pursue scholarship appointments within the Order. Which she definitely didn’t, so that had always been comforting to her, but she was starting to suspect that he’d also been using that assurance as an excuse to not bother teaching her </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> outside of lightsaber forms and tactical strategy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she wasn’t opposed to that, exactly, except that she still needed academic credits of some kind under her belt in order to pass the Trials. Obi-Wan had been a lot more helpful with that, even going so far as to assemble a reading list for her to work through. But Obi-Wan’s version of a ‘light and fun read’ was not the same as hers, and she was about to make that his problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka collected the most recent tome on Obi-Wan’s list—</span>
  <em>
    <span>On Force Use, Twelfth Edition</span>
  </em>
  <span>—under her arm, along with her scattered notes, and left her quarters to go find him. She needed a walk anyway; her legs were cramping from sitting cross-legged on her bed for so long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no point in going to Anakin about any struggles she was having with her studies. He’d signed off on her reading list without reviewing a single one of the titles, and made it clear to her that practicing her katas and studying Rex’s battle strategies should take up most of her days. He’d also scheduled her academic exams in two weeks to ‘get them out of the way’, so she was going to have to disappoint him for the next several days if she wanted to pass any of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Practicing calming breathing exercises as she walked, Ahsoka felt around for Obi-Wan. He was always easy to find; even before becoming Anakin’s Padawan, Master Kenobi lit up the Temple like a great fire with his presence, and now that she was connected to him through Anakin’s lingering training bond with his old Master, she could pinpoint where he was down to the chair he was sitting in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In short order, she found Obi-Wan in one of the common rooms, seated at a couch by the balconies. Light streamed in from the vaulted windows behind him, making the marble floors, mahogany furniture, and decorative polished clayware set around the room all glitter a tranquil, calming yellow. The heavy curtains hung about the room served to absorb noise and encourage quiet contemplation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was the kind of room Anakin never set foot in, opting for the training dojos and mechanical bays instead. Ahsoka took a deep breath; the smell of old furniture and even older paper filled the space, and that </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a lot nicer than the sweaty dojos and oily hangar bays he made her hang out in. Sometimes she wondered what her life would be like if Obi-Wan had actually become her Master instead, and then smiled to herself. It was a nice thought, but she couldn’t imagine studying under anybody but Anakin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even if he really, really hated reading.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan looked up at her entry, and closed the book he had poised in his lap. “Ahsoka,” he greeted warmly, and sat forward to set the book down on the table in front of him. “Are your studies going well?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sort of,” she replied, and stepped further into the room. It was mostly vacant—a few older initiates were studying in the opposite corner, though they mostly seemed to be gossiping. And she could see someone moving in between the rows of bookshelves that took up the far end of the room, but she couldn’t pick out who. Not that it mattered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sit,” he encouraged, and she sunk into one of the cushy chairs beside his couch. There were two teacups also set on the table in front of them, but she wasn’t sure who the other one was for.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He raised a brow at her defeated expression. “Having trouble, I see?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pulled the book out from under one of her arms and let it thunk on the table. It was much thicker and older than whatever he’d been reading. “This book sucks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah. Tar’for’soh’s work.” He smiled as he picked it up, then thumbed the pages until he got to her most recent sticky note inside of it. “She’s always a difficult read.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was on the list you gave me,” Ahsoka reminded him, trying not to sound too accusatory.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan glanced up at her through his lashes, which lit up almost white from the sun. “It’s a text that should be standardised and assigned as part of the general initiate philosophy curriculum. In my opinion,” he added, as if remembering that was an important detail. “It’s quite dated by now, even with all the updates to it, but her works are foundational to our contemporary understandings of the Force. It’s an important book to read, even if it’s tedious to get through.” Obi-Wan looked back down at the book, as if he couldn’t help himself, and touched one of her notes with a smile. “You’re having trouble with the chapter on conduits, I see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka sunk further into the seat and crossed her arms. At least the chair was comfortable. “Did you make Anakin read this book?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>make </span>
  </em>
  <span>Anakin do hardly anything,” he replied dryly. “But I certainly tried. He gave up far earlier than you. Did he tell you to come find me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In a way,” she said vaguely. “He doesn’t really—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan looked up then, towards the bookshelves. She watched as Master Qui-Gon emerged from between two rows of shelves, a massive tome in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you find it?” Obi-Wan asked him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but I found one that will do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sank down into the chair opposite Ahsoka, though with far more grace. Once he got comfortable, he nodded to her greeting. “Ahsoka.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master,” she said hastily, looking between the two of them. “Sorry, I didn’t realise I was interrupting something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you’re not,” Obi-Wan assured her, and in a tone that suggested she was better off not asking. “We were just having a bit of fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glanced at the book in Qui-Gon’s hand. Fun. “Right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need help with your schooling?” Qui-Gon asked, reaching for one of the teacups on the table. “I know your exams are scheduled soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she sighed. “I have to prepare for oral defenses. And I’m doing well, except that I’m not really getting this bit—” She reached over and tapped the page Obi-Wan had opened the book to. “The part about Force-conduits. I get the stuff about conscious causality and cyclical renewal of the Force, but it’s talking about… multi-scalar disruption?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Obi-Wan said absentmindedly. He was reading off one of her notes. “Tar’for’soh is doing a bit of sleight-of-hand here. When she talks of Force-conduits acting on multiple scales, she’s addressing the problem Sith exponentiality poses within Force-wielding, but without actually stating it outright. Which isn’t really relevant anymore, so you wouldn’t be familiar with the literature she’s responding to. I should make a note about updating the volume—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You gave her Tar’for’soh to read?” Qui-Gon leaned over and glanced into the book, which Obi-Wan responded to by angling it away from his old Master as he read from it. Qui-Gon shook his head and shot her one of his small, enigmatic smiles. “My condolences, Padawan. You should’ve come to me. I would’ve given you Quist’s work on conduits.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t listen to him,” Obi-Wan muttered. “Quist is a ludicrous writer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I find him interesting.” Qui-Gon took a sip from his teacup, entirely unbothered by his former apprentice’s total disregard for his opinion. “Are you familiar with the Monitor/Conduit Problem?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan glared at him. “Do not muddle her studies further—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I haven’t,” Ahsoka interrupted, too curious now. She wasn’t used to seeing Obi-Wan this agitated with someone who wasn’t Anakin, and she needed a break from that stupid book in his hands anyway. “What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tar’for’soh would have you believe the only relevant model for understanding Force-use would be the conduit model, which she describes in that text.” He nodded to the book Obi-Wan still held. “That we, as Jedi, are conduits who can tap into the continuous energy field the Force consists of and draw its power towards us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka frowned. “I thought that’s what we did. Master Plo described it to me like—um, like how when your breakfast cereal naturally floats towards your spoon in the bowl and collects around it.” She felt her face heat at how stupid the explanation sounded. Master Plo had made it seem profound when he said it to her. “Jedi are like spoons, and the Force is the… cereal, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, that’s correct,” Obi-Wan interjected. “It’s the most well-established model—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With some problems,” Qui-Gon said. “Such as the complication of Sith exponentiality. It’s difficult to study now, but when Sith were still abundant, they seemed to draw more Force around them than should be possible—to use your breakfast analogy, it would be like they manifested new pieces of cereal in the bowl after every other grain had been drawn around the handle of the spoon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because the conduit theory argues the Force isn’t infinite, so that would be impossible,” she concluded, trying not to make the words come out like a question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Qui-Gon nodded. “That’s exactly it. But under the monitor model—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which has many more issues than the conduit model,” Obi-Wan reminded them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Qui-Gon waved him off. “Under the monitor model, this problem is solved. Force-users observe the Force as it flows around us, not draw it toward us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we do draw from it,” she said, and then pointed back at the book. “Even without that conduit argument, I can feel it gathering around me when I—uh, when I draw from it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The language you use gives you a mental framework for understanding your interaction with the Force. That does not make it objective.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” Ahsoka frowned, this time at her lap. It was the only safe place to look. “I’m confused—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Monitors would be similar to measuring devices,” Qui-Gon explained. “No phenomena is measurable without observing it in some way, and the act of observation alters the measurement we take. If one were to measure the temperature of a body of water, for example, one would need to stick a thermometer in it, and the heat contained within the implement would influence the reading one would get. Usually the tool is not sensitive enough to detect such a minuscule delta, but it is there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka worked through that in her head. “So… we’re the thermometer,” she surmised after a moment. “And the water is… the Force.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The temperature of the water,” he clarified. “It just so happens that Sith are far more adept at these observations than we are. It doesn’t mean they generate new Force energy by ‘drawing from it’; they simply have a finer sense of measurement of the Force when they interface with its field—their thermometers pick up the temperature their own observation exerts in a way we cannot. That ultimately drives them mad, but it solves the exponentiality problem.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we still influence the Force when we access it,” she said, watching him set down his teacup. “We all….” She waved her hands in the air. “Use it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that influence is the result of observation, not conduction. It’s a far more humble approach to Force-use—the conduit model encourages its proponents to think too highly of themselves, in my opinion.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” She frowned. “That makes sense. I think.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t answer your question,” he said finally, his tone turning a bit sheepish. “But perhaps that encourages you to ask more questions you otherwise wouldn’t have considered.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right. Yes,” she added, trying to sound more enthusiastic. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shirk not the wisdom of your elders,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Master Yoda had always told her. Even when they were saying… well, stuff like this. “Thank you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka glanced at Obi-Wan then. He was slouched into the corner of the couch, fingers steepled against one of his cheeks and looking deeply unimpressed by all of this. It was a wonder he hadn’t interrupted Qui-Gon more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She bit her lip to stifle a smile. “Why don’t you like that theory, Obi-Wan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because it’s not a proper theory,” he said immediately, as if he’d been waiting for her to ask him that question, and continued before Qui-Gon could interject again. “To even call it the Monitor/Conduit Problem is to draw equivalency between the two models, as if they’re intellectually competitive in any way. There are hundreds of problems with the monitor ‘model’, which are only worth getting into if you have any interest in specialising in unsubstantiated Force philosophy.” He sat up with a huff and placed the book on the table with more force than was necessary. One of her sticky notes flew out, and he caught it before it could slip away. Realising then that she’d come here to ask him for guidance and not simply debate with them, he tucked the sticky note carefully back into the book and gave her his most patient expression. “I will help you with your studies,” he said slowly, “provided you do not entertain my former Master’s pet project to turn Jedi initiates and Padawans into a pack of conspiratorial skeptics.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Qui-Gon shrugged, still smiling, still patient, still unbothered. “It’s good to be skeptical.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And even better to be discerning in how you apply that skepticism,” Obi-Wan shot back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka watched them as they launched into another argument. Neither of them seemed all that upset, despite Obi-Wan’s theatrical reaction to Qui-Gon’s claims, and as far as she could tell they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. It made her suddenly understand Anakin in a way she hadn’t before—coming from a line of Masters who seemed to find disagreeing with each other a fun pastime was probably insufferable, especially since he definitely did not give a single shit about anything Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were talking about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka did, a little, but not enough to sit around and watch—not when she had an exam in two weeks. Waiting for them to finish so they could help her was probably a waste of time, she thought with a small smile, amused rather than irritated. Obi-Wan was too busy trying to win his position over his old Master to answer any of her questions, and Qui-Gon would just give her new books to read if she hung around long enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna go find Master Plo,” she told them, surreptitiously grabbing the book from the table and slowly creeping out of her seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is </span>
  <em>
    <span>literally </span>
  </em>
  <span>a conspiracy theory!” Obi-Wan was saying, and quite loudly. If Master Jocasta were here, she’d be grabbing him by the ear right now. “Belbotte was a disgraced scholar who was kicked out of the Order, not to mention a serial plagiarist. You can’t possibly believe his work on Force spatiality that has any merit—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m merely inviting you to be critical of what evidence is deemed inadmissible for a given theory, and how,” Qui-Gon replied in an almost serene tone. She also understood now where Obi-Wan got his patience from, especially when it came to Anakin, even if he was far less skilled at deploying it than his own Master.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They continued to argue unabated as Ahsoka headed for the door. The group of initiates studying in the corner were still there, but they seemed to be paying closer attention to what the two Jedi were arguing about than catching up on their reading. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Good luck, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ahsoka thought, and then made a beeline for the gardens. Master Plo would tell her about breakfast cereal again and that would hopefully, somehow, make more sense than thermometers.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>